Navigable vessel



r (No Model.) 42 ySheets--Sheet 1.

L. 0. SMITH. `NAVIGAB'LE VESSEL.

No, 558,575. PatentedApr. 21, 1896.

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2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Modell L. 0. SMITH. NAVIGABLB VESSEL.

No. 558,575. Patented Apr. 21, 1896.

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LEONARD O. SMITH, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

NAVIGABLE VESSEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 558,575, dated April 21, 1896.

pplicatien led October 19, 1895. Serial No. 566,197. (N model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, LEONARD O. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Sailing Vessels, of which the following is a full, clear, and eX- act specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in navigable vessels, particularly of the class adapted to be propelled by the use of sails;

' and it consists in the mechanical construction of the same hereinafter fully described.

The object of my invention is to provide in a navigable vessel a` means whereby the tendency'of the same to careen or heel out of the perpendicular by the pressure of wind against the sails may be compensated to a material degree, so as to cause the vessel to maintain a position more nearly vertical than would be permitted by the use of the ordinary means, such as inside or outside ballast, alone.

My invention is illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side-elevation of a sailing vessel provided with my improved mechanism. Fig. 2 is a modiiication of the same. Fig. is a View of the vessel illustrated in Fig. l, looking toward the bow of said vessel. Fig. l is an end elevation of a modification, and Fig. 5 is a similar view of the modification shown in Fig. 4, the position of the parts being changed.

Similar letters refer to similar parts.

A is the hull of a vessel.

B is a plate hinged to the lower portion of the hull A, the said line upon which the plate B is hinged being oblique with respect to the water-line, (indicated by the dotted line so oc.) Proj ecting upwardly from the said hinged plate B and through the hull of the vessel in to a suitable water-tight compartment D is a lever E. This lever is fiXedly connected to the said plate B, so that by swinging said lever laterally out of the perpendicular it will cause said plate B to assu me an incline, as indicated clearly in Fig. provided in or adjacent to the compartment D whereby the lever E may be retained in any desired position, thereby holding the said plate B at an incline corresponding to the ineline of the said lever, as before stated. In-

A suitable rack may be asmuch as the line upon which the plate B is hung is oblique with respect to the water-line of the boat, when the said plate is swung ont of the perpendicular and at an angle-for instance, as illustrated in Fig. S-the said plate will assume a pitch, so that, as the boat advances, the water through which it moves Will cause a pressure on said plate below the center of gravity. As the sails are placed above the said center of gravity, -it is obviously necessary that the pressure should be applied to said plate below the water-line and upon the same side of the vessel that the pressure on the sails is applied, in order that the said sailpressure may be compensated. It is obvious that as the wind increases and propels the boat through the water at a faster pace the tendency of the said plate to bring the boat into an upright position will be correspondingly increased. In Figs. 1 and 3 the incline upon which the plate B is hung is forward .and downward. In the modification shown in Fig. 2 the line upon which the plate B' is hinged is exactly opposite, being rearward and downward, and when the said plate B is operated to counterbalance the pressure of wind upon the sails it must be held in exactly the opposite position from that necessary Where the incline is forward and downward.

I am aware that heretofore navigable vessels have been provided with pendulous plates attached at or near the bottom of the boat, but in all such cases the line upon which the said pendulous plates have been hinged has been parallel with respect to the waterline.

From the above it will be observed that the important feature of my invention is hinging the plate to the vessel below the center of gravity, upon a line oblique with respect to the normal waterline, and providing said plate with means to hold it at any desired angle to the perpendicular.

It should be noted that the words normal water-line mean the line around the vessel as determined by the level of the water when the vessel is in its normal trim.

In a light breeze the tendency of the prossure on the sails to careen the boat may be compensated by swinging the plate only slightly out of the perpendicular, and inasmuch as the boat is provided with means to IOO hold the lever E in any desired position in the arc in which it swings the pressure of air upon the sails above the center of gravity may be compensated to a nicety by varying the angle of the plate.

In the modification shown in Figs. 4L' and 5 the hull of the vessel is indicated as careening at an angle with respect to the water-line, and Fig. 4 illustrates the position of the keel in a boat not provided with my improved means for righting the vessel. In Fig. 5 the plate B2 is swung out at an angle into a position in which the pressure upon the sail above the center of gravity will be compensated as the boat moves through the water.

Various means may be devised whereby the said hinged plate may be operated, the directacting lever E being illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, while in Fig. 4 a lever E2 is provided with a segmental gear E3 at its lower end meshing with a pinion F, which in turn meshes with a segmental gear B3, fixed to the plate B2. By moving the lever E2 laterally movement is transmitted to the plate B2 through the medium of the said segmental gears B3 E3 and the said intermediate pinion F.

It is obvious that many different means for varying the angle of the hinged plate may be substituted in place of those described.

rIhe illustrations, as shown in the drawings, picture the plate B as hung substantially midway in the length of the hull, and as extending only partially the length of the keel, projecting outwardly from said hull.

It is clear that the length, shape, and position of the plate B may be varied, as desired, the one important and necessary feature being that the same be hung in the manner described. It is also clear that there may be provided one or more of the said plates.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. An improvement in sailing vessels comprising a plate hinged to the hull at a point below the center of gravity and oblique with respect to a iiXed light water-line predetermined by the normal trim of the vessel.

2. An improvement in sailing vessels comprising a plate hinged to the hull below the center of gravity and upon a line oblique with respect to a fixed light water-line, and means as described, for holding said plate at any desired angle with respect to a vertical plane extending longitudinally through the vessel, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. An improvement in sailing vessels consisting of a plate hinged to the hull upon a line oblique with respect to the light waterline predetermined by the normal trim of the vessel, a lever fiXedly connected to said plate, a transverse water-tight compartment in the hull of the vessel, said lever projecting upwardly into said compartment, substantially as and for the purpose specied.

LEONARD O. SMITH.

Titnesses R. C. MITCHELL, C. B. EATON. 

